The Victorious Opposition

That girl has a mouth on her (in a good way) and spends way too much time watching TV. Rapping your way to Salvation, hey, whatever it takes, but she rocks.

It probably helps that I have never seen a Lady Gaga video!!

Ready for prime time? I wonder if this is playing on all the big screens in West Hollywood?

I just got the new Ipad, and it’s pretty awesome. At first glance it comes off as a big Ipod, but as I’m delving into the features a little more I’m starting to see that it’s a great all around device. The thing that I will probably be doing most is reading my Marvel Comics on it (yes, there’s an app for that). Movies are something I need to see if I need or want first. If it turns out that it’s also an awesome little hi-res thing to watch movies and TV on, I’ll think about ordering those features, but for now it’s pretty much my light snacking and lounge machine while I’m watching the Playoffs.

Feel free to pile it on about me buying an Ishat just because Steve Jobs said he made it himself. I freely admit to loving Apple’s products. What amazes me the most about them now, is Apple’s approach to UI. Clearly the best in the market, and they are really defining products in the digital world, and it shows with how well thought out, rich, and detailed they are. There really is something to a great interface.

What this means for the VO? I’m going to say it for you myself. Whenever I get all uppity, you can now all tell me that I need to change my Ipad.

Like herding cats, this future enterpriser of America is finding out that what sounds simple on paper, is, well, the devil is in the details. I bet he is a wiz at extrapolating the Fibonacci numbers of a Pythagorean triangle, or calculating the coefficient of the hypotenuse in trigonometric ratios, but put two toes around a piece of rubber?, damnation.

I also liked how swavay and deboner he was with the ladies, go get ‘em Tiger. Getting shit faced and stumbling over the opposite sex is a sure fire way to convey confidence, direction, and raw animal magnetism. And how about that good Samaritan that kicked over the recalcitrant flip flop as he walked by? We are a caring compassionate people.

Seems to me that I heard some advice about this kind of thing a few years back:

I guess if I had to face the prospects of finding employment in the new Obama economy, I would drink myself silly as well.

H/T: viralfootage

Some pre tax day levity for your enjoyment. This kinda goes hand and hand with the most honest transparent administration is history, knee slappers, those guys are.

Not only is all this stuff pretty much mind blowing, but all was exquisitely captured on film, with a nice sound track thrown in.

Of course it is a double edged sword. Even a cursory perusal over at youtube can reveal broken bones, concussions, and all around body maiming by those more ability challenged. I saw one a few years ago of this teenage kid who broke his arm doing some stupid skate boarding trick. But there was a second part to the video, with his right arm casted to mid fore arm, he tried the same trick again, and this time he broke his other arm. As a parent, what do you do if this was your kid?

All of these are pretty amazing but the one that looks the most appealing to me (I will never ever do it, of course) is that “flying squirrel” body suit (the very beginning of this video) where you can rocket yourself at ungodly speeds.

With greater and more sophisticated means of capture, man’s unquenchable need for notoriety, and some alcohol thrown in for courage, this trend of bigger, faster, higher (crazier?) will certainly continue.

H:T/ liveleak

Man is, by nature, a prideful being, we jersey pop at even the remotest evidence that we stand out or are special from others. Just like the residences of Darwin, Minn. or Castroville, Ca. being number one in anything, even if dubious, can rouse the senses. So, allow me to thrust my index finger in the air:

After weeks of analyzing data on progressive values and counting down the top 100 liberal-friendly counties, The Daily Caller is proud to present its final result: shockingly, the city by the Bay is the most liberal place in America.

Shocker, right?

Although technically, I don’t live in S.F. (the largest zoo/insane asylum, take your pick) we in the Bay Area are quick to embrace anything singular. My little town does have some unique qualities:

  * Benicia is one of Money magazine’s “Best Places to Live 2005” (August 2005).
  ————
  * Nick Jr. Family Magazine recognized Benicia in April 2004 as one of the “10 Most Playful Towns in America” (p.44).
  —————
  * Named Best Place to Raise a Family according to a San Francisco Chronicle survey. 38% of households have children under age 18 at home.
  * Benicia was recognized by Money magazine as one of the “Best Places to Live on the Coast” (June 2005).

But this is small potatoes compared to The City.

San Francisco county and city are one and the same — proudly represented by the nation’s most powerful female politician — Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Democrats consistently ride to victory in landslides: Obama had 84 percent in 2008 and Kerry had 83 percent in ’04. This is no doubt the bluest part of a blue state — California has more representation (15 percent) on our list of the most liberal places in the U.S. than any other state in the union.

Oh boy, so now the whole state is getting shout outs.

One thing I have to admit, there is a number of cities that everyone should visit at least once (Paris, London, Venice, Copenhagen, just to name a few) and S.F.clearly falls on this list. As with the entire state, S.F. has fallen on hard times of late, making the streets filthier, less safe, and much less attractive to both tourists and residence. Public services and social programs have been cut, and the natural spill off to this is even more homeless people, bums, destitute, and vagrants occupying the streets and terrorizing sponging off whoever is around. Trash and bodily discharges has grown inversely proportional to civility and common courtesy. And public parking…........forget about it.

“It’s impossible to be the weirdest person in San Francisco.”

I know, fight that urge to call your travel agent immediately.

Although,as I get older, I find myself less and less inclined to brave a visit to The City, I have volumes of memories of great days and experiences, the bistros, the bookstores, the street entertainers, the seafood, the whole ambiance, and a truly great place for romance. And the fact that the people running the place have always been one sandwich short of a picnic, adds to it’s eccentricity.

I have little doubt that when AQ get their hands on a nuke, S.F. will be their first target (no place in the country is more decedent and sinful, according to their way of life), this makes me a bit nervous, but if just the West Bay is taken out…..........I can live with that.

If you’re not from around here, a lot of this probably won’t make sense to you. But I still thought it was funny enough to share:

Google search has an autocomplete/auto-suggest feature which proposes full search phrases as you start typing. These suggestions change over time, based on various proprietary algorithms. Right now, if you type “why” into the Google search box, you get the following suggestions:

• “why can’t I own a canadian” (which I believe is a reference to the Dr. Laura letter)
• “why is my poop green”
• “why did I get married too” (a question for the National Organization for Marriage, I would guess /snark)
• “why is the sky blue”
• “why do dogs eat poop”
• “why are people posting colors on facebook” (too much LSD?)
• “why do cats purr”
• “why did the chicken cross the road” (to get to the other side, duh)
• “why don’t we just dance lyrics”
• “whyy”

Are people really so taken with the Dr. Laura letter that this is the first completion for “why”? Weird stuff, huh?

This sort of thing has piqued interest in the blogosphere since someone discovered that Google autocomplete appeared to filter out searches for Pat Buchanan a while back (it doesn’t any more).

H/T: The Volokh Conspiracy

Found this over at viral footage:

Segwaying with that retirement thread I wrote a few days ago, here is the rim shot, it was all a joke, you suckers are not going to have any money anyway.

Professor Obama has taken the old Schoolhouse Rock video and added some Chicago modifications, what we have now is a process where bills that nobody wants are signed into laws that nobody can afford so that citizens will have even more government intrusions that they never asked for. But fear not, you are still part of the process, or at least your tax dollars will be. After all, $14 trillion (and growing) is not an unmanageable number, is it?

A rainbow colored T shirt, a toy poodle lodged under an arm, even wearing Gucci shoes, all of these would help out us folks that really don’t like all this sneaking around and want to remove the complication from our lives. Now days, how do you know? I mean, is that nice gentleman I just met on the bus that complimented my abs, is he just making small talk or is he undressing me with his eyes. Or those two young girls over there kissing on the park bench, is this a “college thing” or is the familial unit really at risk? (and could there be a worse time for my digital camera batteries to run down?).

Jane Lynch is one funny broad. Showtime use to carry a series called Party Down, about a catering company in Hollywood, staffed with out of work actors, that would do different gigs. The story line was somewhat limited so the series is no longer running, the episodes with them catering an X rated awards dinner, an old folks party cruise, and a high school reunion….....solid gold. But Jane was great in it.

I don’t watch the show but I bet she is pretty good in Glee as well.

Jane is “of that persuasion” so can be sardonic as she mocks us, but what was that hand gesture at the end of the video? Is she surreptitiously indicating that she really does like the , ah, pepperoni ? See, there they go again.

A couple observations right off the bat. Never mess with a guy who has weapons of ass whoppery hanging on his wall. And where did Mr. Attacker get that haircut? Is that the Achilles helmet look? If he wants to go Greek,there are some bath houses in The City where he can go that route.

Mr. Miyagi says he can break bones and reign death from his pamphlet attack, aside from that neat little groin flip he did, did any of those other blows look particularly menacing to you? I’m no karate master (I always liked bringing superior firepower to bear in my altercations, if you find yourself in the middle of a fair fight, your tactics really suck) but these bitch slaps rated a sandbox level of about 2.

And what self respecting sensei would whack someone with a folded up 5 lb plastic chair? This is what you do:

No muss, no fuss

I guess it speaks to this guy’s ability when he can bitchify his attacker with a copy of Good Housekeeping, imagine the carnage if he used Popular Mechanics?

I just caught this on LOLCaption:

Mrs Thrill and I both had a pretty good laugh about it because that is a common dynamic in our conversations.  Sometimes, she starts off with a story and sets the stage with these laborious descriptions of all of the history, circumstances, and emotions that led directly up to the key problem while I’m pulling a HunterThompson-on-too-much-mescaline and going nuts while inwardly shouting, “FINISH…THE FUCKING…STORY!”

It’s not that I don’t care about stuff that happens to her, I just don’t care about the details.  This sort of conversation is typical for a weekday afternoon:

Her: “So anyway, I’m sitting at home.  It was early in the afternoon and I was watching Judge Judy; no,wait, I think it was Texas Justice.  Which one has the bailiff who’s always making wisecracks?”

Me: “Judge Judy.”

Her: “Right.” So, I’m sitting there and the phone rings.  Are you even listening?”

Me (reading a book): “Mmm hmm.”

Her: “I look at the caller ID and it says some it’s some name I never even saw before.  I get up to answer it and almost trip over the dog.  When I yelled at her, Thrill Jr started crying; Thrilla heard him crying and she came over and started crying too.  So I put Thrill Jr into his chair and he quiets down, but while Thrilla walked away from her Spaghetti-O’s, the dog started eating them.  I’m really sick of the dog eating her goddamn food all the time.  It really makes me mad that we can’t leave food sitting out for one minute without her trying to grab it off the table.”

Me: “Yeah.  Who was on the phone?”

Her: “I’m getting to that part.  The dog also got tomato sauce on the carpet.  So I answer the phone and it’s Geico.” (pauses for dramatic effect)

Me (totally out of it by now): “How is he doing?”

Whether the above article is for real or not, I can relate to it (the miscommunication, not boinking the teenaged neighbor).  There are times when I’ll tune back into a conversation right when I’m being asked, “So if she keeps doing this, there’s a good chance that all of the bad things I described are going to happen.  What do you think she should do?”  Frequently, I have no idea what the problem is, what the options are, or even who we’re talking about.

I don’t just do it to Mrs Thrill either.  I’ve been doing it to co-workers and friends too.  Lately, I just haven’t been interested in anything but the tenth word of every conversation.  By the way, if you’re still reading this, you’re doing better than I would be and I thank you.

I know how to be a good listener, I just really don’t have the patience or interest nowadays.  I’ve always had a knack for shutting people out when I felt like it, but I seem to have lost discretionary control of it.  Is this a feature of getting older, is it some kind of ADD thing, or am I just insensitive?  Spring fever? 

The “Wisdom Tooth” must be spinning in his grave:

I was cringing the entire trailer. Every racial cliche that one could imagine was trotted out in this trailer alone. Likewise, Jayden Smith acts like his father is within an eyeshot coaching him, right down to the lines.

Howver, with all that said, there seems to be a penchant for shitty movies (like Avatar) to give yield worldwide success; and the idea of some American family moving to China (and then being humble by thier compricated skirrs) might just resonate with a 1.2 billion person strong audience. Soooo, what the hell do you guys think? Let’s get some armchair predictions about box office numbers here.

Remember, all predictions in this business are armchair. I can tell you for certain that no one can be sure what works. I’m sure people were saying decades ago that the idea of the Karate Kid would have been laughed off the block until they saw that it worked at the box office.

I’ll be leaving for New York, New York, bright and early tomorrow. It should be a pretty good trip, and as promised to ryansparx, I will be a good Amrkun and go to the WTC site. If you drop a line in the thread, I’ll try and visit and take pictures of other places as well. I do plan on going to the meat packing district, a pretty trendy place in the city right now. I’ll also be going to the Empire State Building (I’ve heard getting in can be pretty tough), and taking the vertigo inducing ride to the top of the building.

Anyway, have a Hapy St. Patty’s Day, and wish New Yorkers luck when Manwhore’s in town.